IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-S) 


1.0 


I.I 


[f  lis  m 

iU  mil  2.2 


i "-  IIIIIM 


1.8 


11-25  11.4   IIIIII.6 


VI 


VI 


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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadt    i  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  Institut  Canadian  da  microreproductions  historiques 


1980 


Technical  Notes  /  Notes  techniques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Physical 
features  of  thiiv  copy  which  may  alter  any  of  the 
images  in  the  reproduction  are  checked  below. 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  6t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Certains 
d^fauts  susceptibles  de  nuire  d  la  quality  de  la 
reproduction  sont  not6s  ci-dessous. 


D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couvertures  de  couleur 


D 


Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 


D 


Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  g6ographiques  en  couleur 


D 


Coloured  plates/ 
Planches  en  couleur 


D 


Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  ddcolordes,  tachet6es  ou  piqu6es 


Tight  binding  (may  cause  shadows  or 
distortion  along  interior  margin)/ 
Reliure  serr6  (peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou 
de  la  distortion  le  long  de  la  marge 
intdrieure) 


D 


G 


Show  through/ 
Transparence 


Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagdes 


D 


Additional  comments/ 
Commentaires  suppldmentaires 


Bibliographic  Notes  /  Notes  bibliographiques 


n 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


Sound  with  other  material/ 
Relid  avec  d'autres  documents 


n 


Pagination  incorrect/ 
Erreurs  de  pagination 


Pages  missing/ 
Des  pages  manquent 


n 


Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


Plates  missing/ 

Des  planches  manquent 


D 


Maps  missing/ 

Des  cartes  gdographiques  manquent 


D 


Additional  comments/ 
Commentaires  suppldmentaires 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  witi.  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Lgs  images  suivantos  ont  6t6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettet6  de  I'exemplaire  film6,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche  shall 
contain  the  symbol  -^-(meaning  CONTINUED"), 
or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"),  whichever 
applies. 

The  original  copy  was  borrowed  from,  and 
filmed  with,  the  kind  consent  of  the  following 
inst':ution: 

Library  of  the  Public 

Archives  of  Canada 

IVIaps  or  plates  too  large  to  be  entirely  included 
in  one  exposure  are  fiimed  beginning  in  the 
upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to  right  and  top  to 
bottom,  as  many  frames  as  required.  The 
following  diagrams  illustrate  the  method: 


Un  des  symboles  suivant?i  apparaTtra  sur  la  der- 
nidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le  cas: 
le  symbols  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE".  le  symbole 
V  signifie  "FIN". 

L'exemplaire  film6  fut  reproduit  grdce  d  la 
g6n6rosit6  de  I'^tabiissement  prdteur 
suivant  .- 

La  bibliothdque  des  Archives 
publiques  du  Canada 

Les  cartes  ou  les  planches  trop  grandes  pour  dtre 
reproduites  en  un  seui  clichd  sont  filmdes  d 
partir  de  Tangle  sup6rieure  gauche,  de  gauche  d 
droite  et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Le  diagramme  suivant 
illustre  la  mdthode  : 


1 

2 

3 

4 

'                             ■          1 

5 

6 

^ 


^■ 


REASONS   WHY 


BRITISH     CONSERVATIVES 


VOTKl)    AGATNST    THK 


BOUCHERVILLE  MINISTKY. 


Aj^  /j  oM^f^ 


lA.^'s/^-'^ — 


ROUSES   POINT,  N.Y.: 
LOVELL  PRINTING  &  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 


:*K-?^' ' 


REASONS   WHY 


BRITISH  CONSERVATIVES 


VOTED  AGAINST  THE 


BOUCHF  AILLE   MINISTRY. 


-O;o 


An  unfriendly  satirist  said  of  my  countrymen,  "Put 
one  Irishman  on  a  spit  and  you  will  find  another 
Irishman  to  turn  him;"  but  it  was  reserved  for  my 
friend  A.  W.  Og'^vie  to  furnish  an  illustration  of  the 
proverb  as  applied  to  his  own  nationality.  It  is  true 
he  softens  thi  bitterness  of  his  opposition  by  avow- 
ing that  it  was  not  a  pleasant  thing  for  him  "  to  enter 
into  a  contest  for  Montreal  Centre  with  so  good  a  man  as 
Mr.  Alexander,"  that  "  he  had  no  disposition  to  come  out 
against  Mr.  Alexander."  "  He  took  that  position  against 
his  will."  Mr.  Alexander  does  not  come  up  to  Mr. 
Ogilve's  ideal  standard  ;  he  will  not  vote  through  thick 
and  thin ;  he  occasionally  kicks  over  the  traces  ;  he  gives 
too  much  comfort  to  the  adversary. 

^  Mr.  Ogilvie  disclosed  to  the  so-called  Liberal  Conserv- 
ative meeting  at  the  Perry  Hall  nomination,  that  be  was 
familiar  with  the  French  language,  and  further  urged 
that    "if  members  like  Mr.  Alexander  were  sent  to  the 


:>    i 


"  Parliament  of  Quebec  who  did  not  widcrstand  one-tenth 
'"''of  what  was  said,  and  could  not  speak  the  language  at 
"  all,  he  would  ask  if  it  was  possible  for  them  to  be  of 
"  much  use." 

Mr.  Ogilvie's  argument  cuts  both  ways.  Brigham,  of 
Missisquoi ;  Cameron,  of  Huntingdon  ;  Eddy,  of  Ottawa, 
and  Sawyer  of  Compton,  are  equally  deficient  as  linguists. 
Yet  they  saved  the  Ministers  from  certain  defeat  by  voting 
against  Mr.  Joly's  motion  recommending  immediate  legal 
proceedings  to  quash  the  "  Tanneries  Land-swop  ; "  while 
on  the  other  side  were  found  Irvine,  Lynch,  Watts  and  Bel- 
lingham,  who  heard  a'^  '^  understood  every  word  of  the 
French  speeches,  yet  voted  for  instant  legal  proceedings. 
If  a  thorough  knowledge  of  French  be  an  indispensable 
requisite  for  the  Montreal  Centre  members,  there  is 
Edward  Carter,  an  accomplished  French  orator  and  jurist. 
Why  are  his  claims  ignored  ?  and  why  is  the  Western  Divis- 
ion so  scurvily  treated  ?  Does  the  fact  of  Mr.  McGauv- 
ran  pledging  himself  to  back  the  Ministry  give  him  the 
gift  of  tongues  ? 

I  am  not  Mr.  Alexander's  champion.  I  admit  him  to 
be  conscientious  and  amiable,  unsuspicious  and  impres- 
sionable ;  but  he  did  not  consult  the  interests  of  this 
Province  when  he  mainly  contributed  to  stifle  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  special  Committee  to  inquire  into  all  the 
circumstances  connected  with  the  loan  of  four  millions ; 
the  sale  of  the  exc'aange,  and  the  distribution  of  the 
funds. 

I  admired  Mr.  Ogilvie's  manly  and  independent  course, 
while  we  sat  together  in  the  House,  and  under  ordinary 
conditions  would  not  have  uttered  a  word  to  mar  his  pre- 
tensions ;  but  the  sentiments  expressed  by  him  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Perry  Hall  Liberal  Conservatives,  nearly 


the 


touches  the  honor  and  impugns  the  intelligence  and  in- 
tegrity of  those  British  members  who  represent  the  Coun- 
ties of  Megantic,  Brome,  Drummond  and  Arthabaska,  and 
Afgenteuil. 

They  repeatedly  voted  non-confidence  in  the  presently 
constituted  DeBoucherville  Ministry.  They  have  always 
been  ranked  as  Conservatives ;  not  that  spawn  that  rob- 
bed and  sullied  the  name  of  Conservatism  and  plundered 
the  country  with  impunity,  but  Conservatives  in  the  true 
acceptation  of  the  word  ;  defenders  of  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  the  electors  and  guardians  of  the  public 
purse. 

Those  four  counties  have  been  approached  in  vain 
by  Ministerial  emissaries  with  the  benevolent  object  of 
fomenting  political  and  r'i'iigious  strife.  They  are  in- 
habited by  electors  as  independent,  as  educated  and 
as  intelligent  as  any  to  be  found  in  the  Montreal 
divisions.  How  then  does  it  arise  that  the  electors 
of  the  above-named  counties  have  invited  their  former 
members  to  accept  re-election  ?  There  must  be  a  grievous 
delusion  somewhere — a  delusion  in  which  the  majorit}'  of 
the  French  Canadian  electors  share.  On  which  side  then 
does  truth  lie  ? 

The  first  non-confidence  vote  of  last  session  was  when 
Mr.  Joly  moved  ii..  amendment  to  the  Address,  that  in- 
stant legal  proceedings  should  be  taken  to  annul  the  "  Tan- 
neries Land-swop."  The  DeBoucherville  Ministry  resisted 
the  motion  on  the  grounds  that,  as  a  preliminary  step  to 
legal  proceedings,  a  special  Committee  should  be  appointed 
to  inquire  into  all  the  facts,  and  on  their  report  the  Govern- 
ment would  act.  A  Committee  was  appointed.  It  sat 
throughout  the  session  ;  140  witnesses  were  examined  ; 
the   evidence   fills    four   hundred  pages  foolscap.      Not 


6 

a  member  of  the  House  received  or  read  before  the  proro- 
gation a  printed  copy  of  that  evidence.  The  most  import- 
ant witness  (Cottb)  baffled  the  Committee  ;  his  evidence  was 
not  completed,  but  after  an  outlay  of  thirty  thousand  dollars 
on  this  mockery  of  an  inquiry,  the  Government  adopted 
Mr.  Joly's  original  proposition.  Months  of  delay  were 
accorded  the  Cottfe  clique  to  complete  their  line  of  defence 
and  encumber  the  Tanneries  property  with  mortgages  and 
re-sales,  and  after  an  elaborate  and  costly  parade  of  an 
inquiry,  the  Government  acted  on  Mr.  Joly's  original  de- 
mand and  instituted  a  suit  to  annul  the  land  swop. 

There  was  one  incident  connected  with  the  Tanneries 
scandal  that  merits  a  passing  notice.  The  Treasurer  was 
summoned  as  a  witness  before  the  Committee.  He  was 
asked  under  oath  whether  he  had  taken  action,  as  member 
of  the  Ouimet  Cabinet,  when  he  discovered  the  character 
of  the  "Tanneries  Land-swop."  He  replied  that  he  had 
called  on  Mr.  O'  .met  to  institute  a  suit  to  quash  the 
transfer,  but  as  Mr.  Ouimet  rejected  his  demand,  he  re- 
signed his  office. 

The  first  vote  the  Treasurer  recorded  after  he  joined  the 
DeBoucherville  Ministry  was  in  flagrant  contradiction  to 
his  advice  to  the  former  Premier.  He  voted  against  Mr. 
Joly's  motion.  The  question  may  be  asked,  at  what  pre- 
cise time  did  the  Treasurer  recant  ?  Did  he  inform  Mr. 
DeBoucherville  why  he  abandoned  Mr.  Ouimet  ?  Or,  did 
he,  after  abandoning  Mr.  Ouimet,  because  he  would  not 
commence  suit,  assure  Mr.  DeBoucherville  that  he  would 
not  insist  on  a  suit  ?  It  is  very  significant  that,  during  the 
debate  on  the  Joly  motion,  the  Treasurer  never  breathed 
a  syllable  about  his  alleged  reasons  for  abandoning  Mr. 
Ouimet,  and  but  for  the  interrogatories  applied  under  oath 
by  the  Committee,those  reasons  might  not  have  been  known. 


I 


It  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  Treasurer  must  have 
probed  the  Tanneries  scandal  to  the  bottom  and  convinced 
himself  that  nothing  could  exculpate  the  Ministry 
save  a  suit  to  rescind  the  land  transfer.  I?  it  then  sur- 
prising if  British  Conservatives  took  that  view  of  the  case 
and  voted  for  instant  legal  proceedings  ?  Am  I  to  gatiier 
f^'om  Mr.  Ogilvie's  strictures  that  if  he  had  been  in  the 
House  he  would  have  voted  for  the  farce  of  a  Committee  ? 
That  he  would  have  aided  in  plunging  the  country  into  a 
senseless  expenditure  of  thirty  thousand  dollars  !  and  that 
he  condems  the  action  of  the  members  for  Megantic, 
Brome,  Drummond  and  Arthabaska,  and  Argenteuil,  who 
voted  for  Mr.  Joly's  motion  ? 

Mr.  Ogilvie  endorses  the  past  acts  of  the  DeBoucher- 
ville  Cabinet  when  he  declares  that  "unless  they  do  some- 
"  thing  worse  than  they  have  done  since  they  came  into 
"power,  he  would  be  prepared  to  support  them." 

This  Province  in  1867  entered  the  Confederation  free 
from  debt,  in  the  possession  of  a  very  large  subsidy  and 
an  abundant  revenue.  It  is  now  saddled  with  a  public 
debt  of  four  millions  ;  our  income  declining  ;  our  expen- 
diture augmenting  ;  and  we  are  rapidly  drifting  towards 
direct  taxation.  One  of  the  greatest  dangers  to  be  dreaded 
in  the  future  is  the  formation  of  railway  rings,  powerful 
enough  to  menace  the  existence  of  the  Government  of  the 
day,  unless  their  demands  be  conceded.  A  spirit  of  wild, 
reckless  railway  speculation  invades  the  land,  and  that 
spirit  was  fostered  and  stimulated  by  the  action  of  the 
DeBoucherville  Cabinet  last  session. 

In  1874  the  Treasurer  assured  the  House  that  the  Rail- 
way Aid  Act  "  went  to  the  very  verge  of  prudence  "  ;  but  in 
1875,  when  Ministerial  life  became  precious,  prudence  was 
cast    to    the   winds,   and    every    Ministerial    supporter 


8 


inlercstcd  in  a  railway  was  coinforlcd  and  confirmed 
in  his  allegiance  by  large  subsidirs,  while  in  the  case  of 
independent  members  like  W.  W.  Lynch,  even  the  written 
pledges  of  a  p-evious  Ministry  were  dishonored,  and  the 
electors  of  Brome  taught  that  servility  and  silent  obedience 
were  the  only  qualities  entided  to  consideration. 

Amongst  the  insane  railway  schemes  hatched  into  vital- 
ity under  the  forcing  process  of  Government  subsidies 
mn^'  be  cited  the  Sherbrooke  line.  The  Grand  Trunk 
Kailroad  from  Sherbrooke  to  Point  Levis  has  been  run- 
ning for  years  without  yielding  interest  oncost  ;  but  where 
one  railway  lost  money  it  must  have  been  supposed  that 
two  would  pay,  for  another  line  is  under  construc^^ion  from 
Sherbrooke,  with  its  proposed  terminus  at  Point  Levis. 
This  line  illustrates  what  engineering  genius  can  achieve 
under  the  stimulating  influence  of  Government  subsidies. 
It  traverses  at  one  place  a  ravine  built  on  stilts  ele- 
vated sixty  feet  in  the  air.  Natural  decay  ensures  the 
certain  destruction  of  this  crib  work  within  eight  years, 
unless  a  bi.jh  fire  or  incendiarism  destroys  it.  Never- 
theless, ihis  obscure  and  needless  railway  not  only 
absorbs  a  large  amount  of  money,  but  it  is  very 
probable  that  it  primarily  suggested  the  idea  of  a  loan 
and  a  general    extension   Of  subsidies   to  other  roads  in 

1875- 

The  Treasurer  had  a  pecuniary  interest  in  this  Sher- 
brooke luad,  as  his  brother-in-law  is  the  contractor.  The 
line  was  not  flourishing  ;  it  was  hanging  fire ;  funds  were 
scant  and  its  bonds  not  attractive  to  capitalists.  To  ask  a 
special  additional  subsidy  would  have  invited  a  rebuff ;  but 
if  a  railway  ring  could  be  organized  in  the  House  to  include 
that  line  with  other  roads,  success  was  certain.  Such  was 
the   mode  of  operation,  and  thus  a  vast  sum  of   public 


I 


9 


money  was  drained  away  to  aid  lines,  many  of  which  can 
not  be  remunerative. 

The  Railway  Aid  Act  of  1874  authorized  the  payment 
of  the  subsidies  to  the  North  Shore  and  Northern  Coloni- 
zation in  Government  bonds  at  par,  and  the  surulus  in  the 
Treasury  of  a  million  was  more  thansufficiei'  ^  liquidate 
the  subsidies  pledged  to  other  lines. 

It  is  obvious  that  if  the  North  Shore  and  Northern 
Colonization  were  willing  to  accept  Government  bonds  at 
par,  no  loan  was  needed.  Now,  it  is  a  fact  that  both  Messrs. 
Thomas  McGreevy  and  Duncan  Macdonald,  the  con- 
tractors for  the  respective  roads,  were  not  only  willing  but 
anxious  to  be  paid  in  Government  bonds,  because  with 
Government  and  Municipal  bonds  they  could  have  floated 
the  bonds  of  their  roads.  This  arrangement  did  not  suit 
the  Treasurer.  He  extracted  a  reluctant  assent  from  his 
colleagues  to  authorize  a  sale  of  ;^8oo,ooo  sterling  bonds 
in  England,  subject  to  the  condition,  that  before  he  con- 
cluded a  sale  he  should  communicate  with  the  Ministry 
and  obtain  their  assent  to  the  sale. 

Before  the  Treasurer  sailed  for  England  he  told  my 
friend,  the  Hon.  Geo.  Bryson,  that  he  calculated  on  sell- 
ing the  bonds  of  the  Province  at  a  premium.  Let  us  see 
how  far  he  realized  that  brilliant  hope. 

On  the  I  St  July,  1874,  h-^  dispatched  a  "cablegram"  from 
London  in  cipher  to  Mr.  Ouiniet,  the  then  Premier,  in  which 
he  announced  that  he  had  an  offer  of  ;^95  for  each  ;^ioo 
bond,  bearing  5  per  cent,  interest.  Mr.  Ouimet  was  away 
from  Quebec.  The  "  cablegram  "  was  opened  by  his  Secre- 
tary, and  as  the  ciplie?'  mystified  him,  he  set  it  down  for  a 
hoax  and  thrust  it  into  his  pocket.  Next  day  another 
"  cablegram  "  came,  addressed  to  Attorney-General  Irvine, 
"  requesting  an  answer."  Mr.  Irvine  replied  that  the  Minis- 


10 


ters  were  out  of  town  ;  that  no  instructions  could  be  for- 
warded until  they  returned,  that  nothing  definite  should 
be  concluded. 

Next  day,  the  3d  July,  the  Treasurer,  without  waiting 
a  few  hours  for  Attorney-General  Irvine's  answer,  sent  a 
third  "cablegram  "  announcing  that  he  had  closed  a  sale  of 
the  bonds  at  95,  and  it  is  a  significant  fact  that  only  on  the 
following  day,  the  4th  July,  the  first  notice  that  any  bonds  of 
this  Province  were  for  sale  appeared  in  the  London  Times, 

The  bonds  were  nominally  sold  at  95,  but  as  the  bonds 
carried  5  per  cent,  interest  from  ist  July,  and  the  pur- 
chasers did  not  pay  for  the  bonds  for  five  months  after- 
wards, the  Province  actually  realized  no  more  than  92^. 

There  was  a  singular  condition  embodied  in  the  sale. 
The  buyers  bought  ^500,000  actually,  with  the  right  to 
take  the  ;^3oo,ooo  sterling  balance,  at  any  time  within  a 
year  from  the  istjuly,  1874. 

The  Province  of  New  Zealand,  a  Province  inferior  to 
Quebec  in  population,  commerce  and  territory,  recently 
negotiated  a  large  loan  in  London,  during  a  stringent 
money  market,  at  92^  for  bonds  bearing  4  per  cent,  inter- 
est. Had  our  bonds  been  properly  advertised,  and  tend- 
ers been  asked  from  Rothschilds,  a  leading  London  bank- 
ing-house that  negotiated  the  New  Zealand  bonds,  there  is 
very  little  doubt  that  more  favorable  terms  would  have  been 
secured.  As  matters  stand,  we  lose  the  difference  between 
<^2\  and  the  present  value  of  our  bonds,  or  $300,000  on  the 
entire  loan — a  loss  we  should  have  escaped  had  an  able 
financier  like  Sir  Francis  Hincks  conducted  the  operation. 

When  Her  Majesty's  troops  were  quartered  here  the 
Commissary-General  could  not  sell  a  thousand  pounds  of 
exchange  on  England  without  advertising  that  he  had  ex- 
change for  sale  and  inviting  tenders. 


i 


11 


When  the  Treasurer  returned  from  England  in  1874, 
he  sold  ;^5oo,ooo  sterling  of  exchange  without  asking  for 
tenders,  without  notifying  one  of  our  leading  banks  that 
he  had  exchange  for  sale,  and  in  one  instance  he  sold 
heavily  to  a  bank  that  is  not  in  a  position  to  liquidate  its 
indebtedness. 

The  DeBoucherville  Ministry  endorsed  the  action  of 
their  Treasurer,  and  when  a  motion  for  a  Committee  to 
inquire  into  matters  connected  with  the  loan  was  brought 
forward,  Mr.  Alexander  came  to  the  rescue  with  an  amend- 
ment that  stifled  inquiry. 

Mr.  Alexander  and  the  Treasurer,  while  in  Lon 
don  together  last  summer,  established  a  mutual  admi- 
ration society,  but  I  think  Mr.  Ogilvie  will  admit  that 
sufficient  proof  was  made  out  to  justify  a  Committee  of 
inquiry,  and  if  he  lacks  any  evidence  that  our  bonds  were 
needlessly  sacrificed,  he  has  but  to  turn  to  the  "  London 
Times/'  where  I  have  no  doubt  he  will  find  them  quoted 
eight  per  cent  above  the  rate  for  which  they  were  sold  by 
the  Treasurer. 

If  my  memory  serves  me,  Mr.  Ogilvie,  when  formerly 
in  the  House,  condemned  the  system  of  farming  out  the  in- 
sane and  idiots,  on  the  broad  ground  that  the  State  should 
not  delegate  to  others  the  responsibility  of  ministering  to 
the  wants  of  those  unhappy  creatures,  and  that  it  was  a 
violation  of  the  recognized  principles  of  Government  for 
a  State  to  resign  its  control  and  management  to  private 
individuals. 

The  policy  of  the  Ministry  last  session  was  to  crystallize 
the  system  ofr  farming  out  the  amefiti  and  dementi  classes, 
though  the  unexplained  burning  of  the  Beauport  Asylum 
and  heavy  sacrifice  of  life  ought  to  have  recalled  the  Gov- 


12 


ernment  to  a  sense  of  its  duty.  Is  it  possible  that  Mr. 
Ogilvie  lauds  the  principle  of  farming  out  lunatics  as  a 
meritorious  act  on  the  part  of  the  Government  ? 

Having  disposed  of  the  insane  and  idiotic,  the  Govern- 
ment next  experimented  with  the  criminal  classes.  It  would 
be  difficult  to  find  any  example  arriongst  civilized  nations, 
of  a  State  creating  a  species  of  white  slavery,  divesting 
itself  of  the  control  and  discipline  of  its  youthful  criminals 
and  consigning  them  to  the  servitude  of  taskmasters,  who 
coin  money  out  of  the  enduring  powers  of  their  young 
flesh  and  blood. 

At  this  epoch  in  the  history  of  our  country,  when  the 
Church  is  voted  superior  to  the  State,  and  to  avow  one's  self 
a  Protestant  is  equivalent  to  ostracism  from  the  Legislature, 
unless  you  belong  to  that  gushing  form  of  Protestantism 
which  apes  ultramontanism,  it  is  not  then  surprising  that 
clericals  should  press  their  claims  as  substitutes  for  Gov- 
ernment authority,  and  be  willing  to  make  market  of  their 
time  and  talents  when  a  profitable  opening  presents  itself. 

It  is  not  known  to  whose  inventive  genius  the  sugges- 
tion is  due  of  bringing  out  Belgians  to  farm  our  juvenile 
criminals,  but  a  mine  of  wealth  has  been  struck  by  the  in- 
ventor. 

The  opulent  habitant  who  intends  his  son  for  any  of 
the  professions  can  command  entrance  into  our  best  col- 
leges where  the  youth  is  highly  educated,  boarded,  lodged 
and  clothed,  for  $120  per  annu.n. 

Our  young  delinquents  must  be  more  fastidious  than 
the  farmers'  sons,  or  the  DeBoucherville  Ministry  must  have 
been  desirous  of  impressing  on  continental'* nations  our 
wealth  and  liberality.  How  else  explain  the  anomaly  of 
agreeing  to  furnish  200  juveniles  and  pay  $180  per  annum 
for  the  board,  lodging  aad  clothing  of  each  ? 


13 


In  the  one  case  a  college  education  costs  '^120  per  an- 
num, in  the  other  case  a  reformatory  is  paid  $180  per 
annum,  minus  education,  except  that  education  which  is 
derived  from'  manufacturing  cigars  and  boots  and  shoes, 
the  profits  whereof  fall  into  the  pockets  of  the  ]3elgians. 

The  Belgian  Friars  are  of  an  industrious  turn  and 
naturally  inculcate  a  love  of  labor.  What  aids  them  in  the 
good  work  is  that  they  need  not  spare  the  rod.  They  are 
masters  of  the  position.  They  can  impress  their  com- 
mands on  the  minds  and  bodies  of  their  prisoners.  They 
have  the  power  of  the  lash  i.  the  boot  or  cigar  making  be 
shirked  or  carelessly  done.  Many  manufacturing  firms 
would  gladly  pay  a  moderate  sum  for  the  labor  of  these 
200  boys,  but  to  be  extravagantly  remunerated  for  main- 
taining the  boys  and  pocket  the  fruits  of  their  industry  is 
a  climax  of  good  fortune  beyond  the  reach  of  laymen. 

The  manufacture  of  cigars,  boots  and  shoes,  and  other 
articles,  is  assiduously  pursued  at  the  Reformatory  ;  and  as 
each  boy's  labor  is  worth,  at  least,  $2  per  week,  this  little 
speculation  yields  the  following  results  : — 

Outside  cost   of  boarding,  lodging   and   feeding 

200  boys  at  $100  each $20,000 

Government    subsidy,  $180  for  each     ....      36,000 


Clear  profit  on  subsidy 

Gain  on  labor  of  200  boys  at  $2  per  week  each, 
for  52  weeks 


16,000 
20,800 


Yearly  profit  on  the  speculation  .     .     .    $36,800 
after  leaving  an  ample  margin  for  all  expenses. 

I  do  not  object  so  much  to  Belgian  Friars  coming  to  Ca- 
nada and  competing  in  the  labor  market  with  our  native 
born  ;  but  I  protest  against  this  insidious  form  of  white  slav- 


14 

ery ;  this  abandonment  by  the  Government  of  its  duty  ;  this 
surrender  by  it  of  one  of  the  attributes  of  all  Governments — 
the  control  and  management  of  its  criminal  classes  by  its 
own  responsible  officers.  Let  the  Priest  or  Friar  confine 
himself  to  the  vocation  he  selected ;  but  if  he  becomes  a 
citizen,  then  grant  him  no  preference  over  the  legitimate 
trader.  Do  not  p^y  him  fifty  percent,  more  for  boarding 
and  clothing  lads  than  our  best  colleges  charge  for  board- 
ing, clothing  and  education ;  do  not  subsidize  him  as  a 
manufacturer,  anc  thus  enable  him  to  undersell  other 
manufacturers  who  are  heavily  taxed. 

This  Reformatory  School  was  an  emanation  of  the 
present  Cabinet.  Let  Mr.  Ogilvie  verify  the  facts  alleged 
and  then  turn  to  the  electors  of  the  Centre  Ward  and  ask 
them  whether  they  sanction  such  revolutionary  experi- 
ments. 

The  Chairman  of  the  Liberal  Conservative  Association 
who  introduced  Mr.  Ogilvie  as  a  ^ndidate  to  the  meeting, 
urged  electors  to  "  perpetuate  a  good  Conservative  and 
well-known  Government,"  meaning  Mr.  DeBouchemlle's 
Ministry,  by  preferring  Mr.  Ogilvie  to  Mr.  Alexander,  and 
not  aid  the  Joly  opposition  party  who  are  "  rushing  upon 
the  unknown  experiments  of  the  so-called  School  of  Re- 
form." Curiously  enough  the  only  political  measure 
brought  in  by  the  DeBoucherville  Ministry  last  session 
was  the  ballot  bill — a  measure  long  inscribed  on  Reform 
banners  (and  now  to  be  succeeded  by  compulsory  voting) 
— a  measure  which  Conservatives  had  been  trained  to 
combat. 

Last  session  a  ballot  bill  identical  in  its  principles  with 
the  one  now  in  force,  was  introduced  by  an  Opposition  mem- 
ber and  voted  down  by  the  Ouimet  Ministry.  This  session 
Mr.  Ouimet  acted  a  consistent  part.     He  denounced  the 


»uTB:,-.wW.wiM»:Mv''jaf.-o.MiiMi-*«iw«fti:v»iw>miu'*m*i^Mw 


15 


DeBoucherville  ballot  bill  as  a  dangerous  experiment ;  used 
almost  precisely  *he  words  employed  by  Mr.  McLennan  at 
the  Perry  Hall  nominations  when  warning  the  electors  not 
to  vote  against  a  Goverr:nent  candidate.  Mr.  Ouimet 
said  that  the  DeBoucherville  Ministry  "  \yere  rushing  upon 
the  unknown  experiments  of  the  so-called  School  of  Re- 
form," and  he  d*-ew  an  amusing  picture  of  the  perplexed 
and  unlettered  habitant,  with  his  ballot  paper  turned  up- 
side down,  voting  the  wrong  ticket.  Punch  had  a  cartoon 
once  of  Peel  stealing  the  clothes  of  the  Whigs  while  bath- 
ing. Mr.  DeBoucherville  certainly  stole  the  thunder  of 
the  Opposition.  He  appropriated  their  ballot  bill  with  all 
its  clauses,  re-christened  it  a  Conservative  bill,  and  carried 
it  because  the  Liberals  were  voting  for  their  cherished 
measure.  But  the  morality  of  the  act  is  open  to  question. 
This  session  there  was  a  furor  for  the  ballot,  hence  the 
Ministry  had  the  alternative  of  appropriating  the  bill  of  the 
Opposition  or  being  defeated  ;  they  preferred  holding 
office.  The  advocates  of  the  ballot  pleaded  that  it  would 
preclude  intimidation,  but  the  old  Conservative  party  held 
that  secrecy  and  concealment  fostered  deception  and 
hypocrisy.  The  ballot  is  an  experiment,  and  some  be- 
lieve, of  doubtful  value.  Time  will  tell.  But  the  author- 
ship of  a  ballot  bill  by  the  DeBoucherville  Ministry  does 
not  improve  its  claim  to  the  title  of  Con<^ervatives. 

There  was  one  bill  carried  by  the  Government  last 
session,  and  Mr.  Ogilvie,  as  a  large  landed  proprietor,  can 
pronounce  as  to  its  value.  Certain  parties — true  blue 
Conservatives — long  cast  an  envious  eye  on  Mr.  Ryland's 
office.  Fortunately  for  him,  he  could  not  be  ousted. 
Hence  to  divide  the  Registrarship  and  lind  some  place  for 
stanch  voters  was  the  plan  adopted.  Mr.  Ryland  repeat- 
edly  prayed  that  a  suitable    Registry   Office  should   be 


16 

built,  where  the  documents  under  his  charge  could  be  pro- 
tected ;  where  he  could  have  room  tor  additional  clerks  to 
write  up  the  books.  He  is  now  so  cramped  for  room  that 
he  has  to  employ  at  heavy  cost  a  staff  of  night  clerks. 
Thus  the  work  of  registration  is  carried  on  day  and  night. 
Mr.  Ryland's  application  for  additional  accommodation 
was  unheeded,  yet  one  of  the  crines  urged  against  him 
was  that  he  did  not  expedite  the  work.  Letters  were  read 
in  the  House  from  leading  Notaries  practising  in  Montreal, 
protesting  against  the  proposed  changes  in  the  Registry 
Office,  on  the  ground  that  the  change  would  involve  heavy 
additional  expense  making  searches  and  would  breed  con- 
fusion. Let  Mr.  Ogilvie  consult  his  notarial  friends  and 
ask  them  how  they  relish  the  new  Registry  Office  bill.  Will 
he  laud  it  as  a  Conservative  measure,  or  condemn  it  as 
"  rushing  upon  the  unknown  experiments  of  the  so-called 
"School  of  Reform"? 

The  Province  of  Ontario  is  free  from  debt  and  has  a 
surplus  sufficient  to  found  a  bank.  The  ,'^rovince  of  Que- 
bec went  last  year  borrowing,  and  the  proverb  says,  "  Those 
who  go  borrowing  go  sorrowing."  Be  that  as  it  may,  we 
have  incurred  a  debt  of  four  millions,  and  the  probabilities 
are  that  our  revenue  will  not  meet  our  expenditure,  while 
in  the  future  if  our  present  financial  policy  be  pursued  we 
shall  be  driven  to  direct  taxation  unless  we  economize  by 
abolishing  the  Legislative  Council,  in  order  to  equalize  re- 
venue and  expenditure.  The  Parliament  Buildings  at 
Quebec  are  superior  in  every  respect  to  those  in  Toronto. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  gravely  proposed  by  the  DeBoucherville 
Ministry,  notwithstanding  our  unhappy  financial  condition, 
to  construct,  at  a  cost  that  must  exceed  a  million,  a  new 
Parliament  House  and  Departmental  Buildings.  The 
ground  on  which  the  present  House  of  Parliament  stands 


.,W  "■■".  :.f .  ;"i»..Mfc,i.  V»iSf<W  ■  >iS*.U4* 


r^v^MMw**.' 


•vM-^mm»':^v, 


17 


at  Quebec  was,  twenty  years  since,  leased  at  a  rent  of 
;^iooo  sterling  per  annum  from  the  Roman  Catholic  Arrh- 
bisho^j.  The  bargain  was  made  during  the  time  of  the 
united  Parliament,  consequently,  if  that  site  be  abandoned 
the  ground  rent  must  be  paid,  involvmg  a  loss  to  the  Pro- 
vince. It  is  part  of  the  scheme  to  pull  down  the  Jesuit 
barracks  and  occupy  that  site  for  the  new  Parliament  House. 

The  Jesuit  barracks  attest  the  skill  of  those  who 
erected  them.  They  stand  firm  and  solid  without  crack 
or  fissure,  and  with  ordinary  care  may  remain  intact  for  a 
century.  Spouts  have  been  torn  down  and  windows  left 
open  as  if  to  accelerate  their  decay  and  impart  an  aii  of 
dilapidation  to  the  edifice,  and  there  are  not  lacking  many 
persons  who  covet  the  materials,  while  architects  have 
been  found  to  condemn  the  structure. 

Is  Mr.  Ogilvie  in  favor  of  this  pet  measure  of  the  De- 
Boucherville  Cabinet?  Is  he  willing  that  this  Province, 
while  hardly  able  to  keep  out  of  debt,  should  plunge  into 
an  outlay  of  a  million  on  bricks  and  mortar  and  incur  an 
absolute  loss  either  of  the  present  House  of  Parliament  or 
the  five  thousand  dollars  annual  ground  rent  ? 

Mr.  Ogilvie's  emphatic  style  of  lauding  "  the  perfect 
uprightness  and  honesty  of  the  DeBoucherville  Ministry 
from  the  Premier  downwards,"  and  his  declaration  that 
"  unless  they  did  something  worse  than  they  had  done, 
since  they  came  into  power,  he  would  support  them,"  must 
prove  a  consolation  to  his  Ministerial  friends,  and  they  must 
most  devoutly  pray  for  his  return.  But  electors  demand 
more  substantial  aliment  than  gratuitous  flatteries.  They 
see  a  number  of  English  members  elected  by  English 
constituencies  who  refuse  to  bow  down  and  worship  Mr. 
Ogilvie's  idols,  and  a  majority  of  the  French  Canadian 
constituencies  are  saturated  with  a  like  heresy. 


18 


I  I- 


The  elector  ot  the  present  day  will  not  be  satisfied  with 
platitudes.  He  means  business.  He  wants  tc  know  the 
why  and  the  wherefore.  The  days  when  the  long  purse  could 
command  a  majority  at  the  polls  cannot  be  restored.  The 
battles  of  the  future  must  be  fought  with  pen  or  on  the 
platform,  and  those  who  have  been  under  fire  must  be 
prepared  to  prove  that  they  performed  their  duty. 

E  lijlish  members  might  have  disappeared  from  the 
House  last  session  without  materially  altering  the  result 
of  the  votes,  because  as  many  voted  with  as  against  the 
Ministry,  It  remains  to  be  proved  whether  those  English 
members  who  had  confidence  in  the  Ministry  enjoy  the 
confidence  of  their  electors  and  can  be  returned 
as  Ministerialists.  One  already  has  thrown  up  the 
sponge  ;  others  await  fierce  opposition  ;  others  are  making 
terms,  while,  notwithstanding  the  perverted  use  of  Bishop 
Bourgets'  pastoral,  it  is  almost  beyond  doubt  that  the 
French  Canadian  opposition  will  draw  recruits  from  coun- 
ties hitherto  Ministerial. 

'  The  ablest  writer  on  constitutional  law  and  the  best 
informed  journalist  in  the  Dominion  upon  theological 
questions  is  the  Hon.  Joseph  Cauchon.  To  him  we  are 
indebted  for  a  valuable  review  of  Bishop  Bourget's  pas- 
toral. He  writes  under  the  full  responsibility  of  his 
nationality,  his  religion,  his  past  honors  and  the  prizes  of 
political  life  that  await  him.  It  is  fortunate  at  this  crisis 
in  our  history  when  efforts  are  made  to  trade  on  religious 
prejudices  and  invite  ignoble  animosities,  that  a  Roman 
Catholic  French  Canadian  should  make  his  voice  herrd 
and  demand  for  political  questions,  thorough  liberty  of 
opinions  and  conduct.  He  says  in  his  journal,  "  We  have 
always  admitted  that  in  matters  of  dogma  and  morality 
our  Bishops  are  the  teaching  authority,  to  which  we  are 


19 


■sfled  with 
know  the 
"se  could 
ed.    The 
5r  on  the 
must  be 

rom   the 
G  result 
inst  the 
English 
I  joy  the 
-turned 
ip    the 
naking 
Bishop 
at  the 
coun- 

i  best 
:>gical 
^e  are 
pas- 
f  his 
es  of 
:risis 
:ious 
man 
errd 
y  of 
'uve 
ility 
are 


always  ready  to  submit,  and  is  doniinafed  only  by  that  of 
the  Pope." 

Mr.  Cauchon,  who  controls  the  best  written  and  most 
influential  French  Canadian  journal  published  in  die 
Dominion,  was  a  Conservative  when  some  members  of  the 
DeBoucherville  Cabinet  were  ardent  Liberals.  He  is  a 
recognized  leader  amongst  his  Conservative  fellow-coun- 
trjmien,  therefore  the  one  above  all  others  that  wr  might 
have  counted  upon  as  amongst  the  active  supporters  of  the 
DeBoucherville  Ministry.  But  what  are  the  facts.  He  calls 
on  his  countrymen  to  reject  any  candidate  who,  like  Mr. 
Ogilvie,  expresses  confidence  in  the  present  Ministry,  and 
during  the  debates  on  the  "  Tanneries  Land-swop,"  the 
estimates,  the  loan,  the  railway  policy  and  the  subsidies,  he 
endorsed  every  speech  and  approved  every  vote  recorded 
by  the  British  Opposition  members.  / 

The  Ministerial  and  Opposition  leaders — the  Honble. 
Mr.  DeBoucherville  and  Mr.  Joly — are  gentlemen  of  honor 
and  integrity,  and  considering  how  slight  theacual  diverg- 
ence of  opinion  between  Conservatives  and  Liberals 
of  their  stamp,  it  is  almost  to  be  desired  that  a  fusion 
should  be  brought  about  whereby  a  Ministry  could  be 
formed  so  strong  in  the  confidence  of  the  country  as  to 
defy  organized  rings  of  black-mailers,  jobbers,  railway 
speculators,  and  place  hunters — a  Ministry  powerful 
enough  to  restore  an  equilibrium  in  our  finances  and  save 
this  Province  from  drifting  towards  bankruptcy  or  direct 
taxation. 

SYDXEY    BELLINGIIAM. 


Rouses  Point,  N.  Y. 


APPENDIX. 


i^ 


{From  the  London  Times.) 

A  recently  issued  pami)Iilct  reviewing  our  Provincial  Legislature, 
contains  interesting  and  authentic  details  elucidating  the  incidents 
connected  with  the  hte  loan.  One  chapter  is  reproduced  because  it 
discusses  the  question  of  railway  subsidies  and  reveals  the  astute  and 
disingenuous  mode  in  which  a  statute  was  manipulated  so  as  to  impart 
a  color  of  legality  to  the  four  million  loan. 

Electors  will  gather  from  its  perusal  how  the  confidence  of  the 
House  can  be  abused  ;  how  voters  can  be  purchased  ;  and  how  the 
door  has  been  ojjened  to  a  system  of  borrowing  money  at  onerous 
rates,  that  must  eventually  plunge  this  Province  into  financial  embar- 
rassment, and  breed  fresh  demands  on  a  depleted  Treasury. 

Py  the  Confederation  Act  of  1867,  the  Federal  Government  assumed 
5^62,500,000  debt  of  the  old  Province  of  Canada.  The  excess,  which 
was  about  $11,000,000,  was  charged  to  the  Provinces  of  Quebec  and 
Ontario,  but  subsequently  the  Federal  Government  having  assumed 
this  excess,  the  Government  of  Quebec  believed  it  could  favor  the 
construction  of  certain  railways  in  order  to  develope  the  resources  of 
the  Province. 

The  oroject  was  announced  by  the  Hon.  Mr.  Robertson  in  his 
budge,  speech  the  I3tn  January,  1874.  The  Treasurer  then  enumer- 
ated the  railways  that  would  receive  Government  aid  on  conforming 
to  certain  conditions.  The  amount  that  the  Government  would  have 
to  pay,  said  the  Treasurer,  if  all  the  railways  should  be  constructed, 
would  be  $5,280,000.  (Page  58  of  his  speech.)  But  he  added,  "  I  do 
"not  think  the  Provin  :e  will  be  required  to  provide  subsidies  for 
"  more  than  four  millions  to  the  railways  which  I  have  mentioned,  be- 
"  cause  many  lines  of  the  class  B  will  not  be  constructed,  and  that  the 
"companies  inscribed  down  as  the  class  C  will  not  part  with  their 
"lands."  F'urther  on  (at  page  58)  he  said,  "I  calculate  that  the 
"  emission  of  our  debentures  (to  pay  these  money  subsidies)  will  oc- 
"  cupy  four  or  five  years  if  all  the  railway  companies  avail  themselves 
"  of  the  advantages  we  offer." 


21 


■cgislaturc, 
I'lcidcnts 
'-"e cause  it 
i«tutc  and 
to  impart 

:c  of  the 
how  the 
onerous 

'  embar- 

issumed 
s,  which 
bee  and 
ssunied 
/or  the 
rces  of 

in  his 
lumer- 
iming 

have 
Jcted, 
'I  do 
s  for 
I,  be- 
lt the 
their 

the 
I  oc- 
Ives 


On  these  declarations  the  Chamber  consented  to  pass  the  Act  38 
Vic,  cap.  2,  sanctioned  the  28th  January,  1S74. 

By  the  fourth  clause  of  this  Act,  12  railway  companies  accpiircd 
a  right  to  a  subsidy  of  ^2500  per  mile,  and  two  other  companies  to 
$1900  per  mile. 

All  these  companies  were  bound  to  have  by  the  ist  Nov.  last,  at 
least,  ten  miles  graded  and  ready  to  receive  rails,  in  order  to  entitle 
them  to  the  aforesaid  subsidy.  With  the  exception  of  four  comj)anies, 
to  wit,  the  Quebec  and  New  lirunswick,  the  St.  Francis  and  Megantic, 
the  I5ay  of  Chaleurs,  and  the  Lake  St.  John's^  which  roads  must  re- 
nounce their  land  grants  before  ist  January,  ICS75,  to  entitle  them  to 
Provincial  aid.    (Section  8.) 

The  statute  did  not  authorize  the  issue  of  debentures  to  pay  the 
companies  because  the  Government  had  then  in  the  treasury  nearly  a 
million  of  dollars.  This  snm  was  thus  more  than  sufficient  to  pay  the 
promised  subsidies,  more  especially  as  the  majority  of  the  roads 
would  take  several  years  building,  and  many  would  not  be  built  and 
have  not  been,  and  were  only  included  in  the  act  by  the  Government 
as  entitled  to  subsidy  to  compel  certain  members  to  vote  with  the 
Government. 

Clauses  9  and  15  authorized  the  Lieutenant-Governor  in  Council 
to  accord  under  the  form  of  a  loan  to  the  Northern  Colonization  Rail- 
way Company  and  to  the  North  Shore  Railway  Company  for  the  con- 
struction of  their  roads,  bonds  or  debentures,  to  the  amount  of  two 
millions  of  dollars,  under  the  condition  that  these  two  railways  be 
first-class  roads,  and  that  they  can  only  be  accepted  as  such  by  the 
Lieutenant-Governor  in  Council,  on  the  report  of  the  Provincial  Rail- 
way Board. 

By  section  14  of  the  same  act,  when  the  Northern  Colonization 
Railway  Company  shall  have  definitely  located  a  line  of  railway  from 
Aylmer  to  Riviere  Creuse  (Deep  River),  and  proved  in  a  satisfactory 
manner  that  it  is  ready  to  proceed  with  the  construction  of  the  said  rail- 
way before  the  ist  January,  1875,  ^^^  Lieutenant-Governor  shall  have 
the  right  to  accord  to  the  said  company,  under  the  form  of  a  loan,  bonds 
and  debentures  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  this  part  of  the  said  rail- 
way to  the  extent  of  about  $100,000. 

Thus,  the  only  debentures  that  could  be  issued  in  virtue  of  this 
law  were  those  which  might  be  granted  as  a  loan  to  the  North  Shore 
Railway  Company  and  the  Northern  Colonization  Railway,  for  a  sum 
of  about  $2,540,000. 


(i 


22 


Let  it  be  remembered  that  up  to  this  hour  the  Northern  Coloniza- 
tion Company  has  been  unable  to  inform  the  CJovernm  ""t  that  it  was 
in  a  position  to  conform  to  the  condiiions  that  gave  it  a  right  to  an 
advance  of  bonds  or  debentures  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  a  road 
(rom  Aylmer  to  Deep  River,  and  that  the  only  payments  that  have 
been  made  to  these  two  companies  for  their  roads  from  Quebec  to 
Aylmer,  is  a  sum  of  $140,000,  which  proves  that  years  may  elapse  be- 
fore these  roads  are  constructed. 

Nevertheless,  what  did  the  Treasurer  do  ?  lie  found  in  section 
24  of  the  above  cited  act  of  1S74,  a  clause  which  permitted  him,  under 
the  authorizaiion  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor  and  Council,  to  negotiate 
and  sell  these  debentures.  Thus  he  concluded  that  he  was  authorized 
to  issue  these  debentures  before  ascertaining  whether  the  companies 
would  ever  acquire  a  right  to  a  subsidy,  though  he  had  no  right  to 
issue  debentures  but  in  proportion  as  the  work  progressed,  and  only 
to  first-class  roads. 

But  the  Treasurer  longed  to  make  a  tiip  to  Europe  and  engage  in 
a  financial  operation. 

Subsequent  to  the  month  of  Feb.,  and  immediately  after  assuring  the 
Chamber  that  the  debentures  would  not  be  required  under  four  or  five 
years,  he  succeeded  in  getting  passed  during  the  absence  of  the  Hon. 
Mr.  Irvine,  an  order  in  Council,  authorizing  him  to  issue  the  deben- 
tures at  once  and  proceed  to  England  to  sell  the  debentures,  not  for 
the  sum  of  $2,600,000,  the  only  amount  for  which  debentures  could  be 
issued  in  virtue  of  this  law,  when  the  two  companies  last  mentioned 
were  paid  ar  had  been  accepted  as  first-class  railways,  but  for  the 
sum  of  four  millions. 

Moreover,  not  only  did  the  Treasurer,  acting  on  the  order  in 
Council,  commit  an  illegal  and  immoral  act,  but  he  sold  the  deben- 
tures, though  formally  warned  not  to  do  so  by  some  of  his  colleagues, 
amongst  others,  the  Hon.  Mr.  Irvine,  selling  them  without  any  notice 
to  London  capitalists  through  the  public  prints,  as  is  customary  in 
the  case  of  all  sales. 

The  electors  consequently  have  to  reproach  Mr.  Robertson  with 
not  only  committing  an  illegal  act,  but  for  having  involved  the  Prov- 
ince in  a  considerable  loss.  The  Government  had  no  need  of  a  Joan. 
It  was  only  bound  to  advance  its  bonds.  But  supposing  that  it  was 
in  the  interest  of  these  two  companies  that  the  Government  negotiated 
the  debentures — a  fact  not  established — there  was  at  all  events  no 
necessity  for  hurrying  the  negotiation  as  in  the  Tannery  affair.    The 


■  ■I   I  liHWllllW— MMBWI 


23 


-rn  Colon I'za- 
t  that  it  was 

'■'■fi'it  to  an 
'"  f'f  a  road 
ts  that  have 

Quebec  to 
'  elapse  be- 

•n  section 
^'"'n,  under 
'  negotiate 
authorized 
•o'"Iianies 
^  '■'■ght  to 
and  only 

"gage  in 

•ring  the 
r  or  five 
le  Hon. 
clcben- 
not  for 
3uld  be 
itioned 
-or  the 

ler  in 

eben- 

gues, 

lotice 

ryin 

with 

rov- 

5an. 

ivas 

ted 

no 

he 


Treasurer  ought  in  any  case  to  have  addressed  capitalists.  Had  he 
advertised  the  bonds  for  sale,  he  certainly  could  have  sold  them  at 
par,  as  the  quotations  given  by  the  Monetary  Jo  .11  nal  of  Loudon 
prove.  The  loss  on  the  sale  of  the  debentures  is  not  the  only  loss. 
The  Treasurer  had  no  need  of  funds.  He  is  consequently  compelled 
to  deposit  ir.  the  '^anks  his  four  millions,  and  though  he  borrowed  the 
money  in  En.';^lan('  at5j  pt-'r  cent,  interest,  he  only  received  5  per  cent, 
interest  from  the  o.u.ks — a  loss  of  $10,000  per  annum,  a  considerable 
sum  that  this  Province  must  loi-e  by  the  gross  fault,  if  not  malfeasance, 
of  the  Treasurer.  Conduct  thus  illegal,  especially  when  it  entailed 
such  disastrous  results  for  our  finances,  could  not  pass  unchallfng'^d. 

Mr.  Ik'llingham,  who  was  in  London  when  the  loan  was  contracted 
by  Mr.  Robertson,  proposed  on  the  Sth  February,  1875,  the  following 
motion : — 

"  That  a  special  Committee  be  named,  composed  of  the  Honorable 
Attorney-General  Church,  Trudel,  Joly,  Bachand,  Verrault,  and  the 
mover,  to  inquire  into  all  matters  connected  with  the  ^^800,000  Si  rling 
loan  announced  in  the  **  London  Times  "  of  the  4th  July,  1874,  and 
signed  by  the  Tv  sasurer  of  the  Province,  and  into  all  matters  con- 
nected with  the  payment  of  the  subsidies  to  the  subsidized  railways  ; 
to  summon  before  it  all  persons  and  procure  all  documents  and  papers 
necessary,  and  to  report  from  time  to  time  to  the  House. 

"  I.  That  nearly  a  million  dollars  surplus  revenue  was  in  the 
Treasury  when  the  Treasurer  of  the  Province  solicited  permission  to 
repair  to  London  to  negotiate  a  loan  of  ;^8oo,ooo  sterling  ;  that  after  his 
return  to  Canada,  though  he  full  well  knew  that  it  had  been  stipu- 
lated that  the  North  Shore  and  Northern  Colonization  Railways 
should  receive  the  amount  of  their  subsidies  in  Provincial  bonds  at 
par,  he  made  them  accept  payment  of  $80,000  and  $84,000  respectively, 
as  part  of  their  subsidies,  in  money  at  the  rate  of  1 5  cents  in  the  dollar  ; 
that  the  total  amount  of  the  subsidies  paid  by  the  Treasurer  of  the 
Province  up  to  the  i8th  December  last  amounted  to  only  $201,000; 
that  deducting  this  sum  from  the  surplus  revenue,  there  still  remained 
on  the  i8th  December  last,  more  than  $760,000  excess  of  revenue, 
demonstrating  in  a  conclusive  manner,  that  there  was  no  necessity  to 
contract  a  loan  in  London. 

"  2.  That  after  the  Treasurer  arrived  in  I^ondon  to  negotiate  a 
loan  he  took  it  upon  himself,  without  consulting  his  colleagues,  to  sell 
the  debentures  of  this  Province. 

"  3.  That  after  ihe  return  of  the  Treasurer  to  Canada  he  aided,  in 


r  F 


24 

concert  with  Honorables  Messrs.  Ouimet,  Chapleau,  and  Archam- 
bault  (the  other  members  of  the  Cabinet  having  previously  resigned), 
in  forming  a  quorum  of  the  Executive  Council,  the  morning  of  the  day 
the  Cabinet  resigned,  and  he  co-operated  in  the  passing  an  order  in 
Council,  authorizing  the  Treasurer  to  pay  large  sums  of  public  moneys 
to  certain  subsidized  railway  companies,  notwithstanding  the  express 
provisions  to  the  contrary  embodied  in  clauses  16,  19  and  21  of 
the  37  Vic.  chap.  2,  being  in  direct  contravention  of  the  said  statute, 
and  in  violation  of  the  conditions  that  the  subsidies  accorded  to  the 
North  Shore  and  Northern  Colonization  Railways  should  be  paid  in  the 
debentures  of  this  Province. 

"4.  That  the  borrowing  of  ^4,000,000  in  London  at  5^  per  cent, 
interest,  and  reloaning  the  same  sum  to  banks  in  Canada  at  5  percent, 
interest,  involves  this  Province  in  an  annual  heavy  loss,  and  that 
taking  into  calculation  the  loss  of  interest,  expenses,  cost  of  sinking 
fund,  agencies,  commissions  and  risk  of  reloaning  the  same,  this 
Province  must  incur  a  pecuniary  loss  before  the  said  loan  be  liquidated 
of  several  hundred  thousand  dollars." 

Mr.  Alexander  proposed  the  following  amendment : — 
"  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  House,  the  loan  negotiated  by  the 
Honorable  the  Treasurer  in  England,  was  an  operation  financially 
advantageous  ;  that  it  established  and  assured  our  (^redit  in  England." 
This  amendment  was  completely  unacceptable.  Mr.  Bellingham 
demanded  the  formation  of  a  Committee  to  inquire  into  the  circum- 
stances of  the  loan.  The  House  had  no  information  before  it  to  pro- 
nounce on  the  merits  of  the  loan  as  a  financial  success,  and  it  was 
attempted  by  this  amendment  to  make  it  declare  that  it  was  a  good 
operation. 

Mr.  Langelier  thereupon  proposed  to  amend  the  amendment  as 
follows : — 

"  That  all  the  words  after  "  that "  to  the  end  of  the  r.mcndmcnt  be 
expunged  and  replaced  by  the  following  words  :  '  This  House  without 
expressing  any  opinion  as  to  the  conditions  under  which  the  loan  was 
effected  by  the  Honorable  Treasurer,  is  of  opinion  that  a  loan  for  so 
considerable  a  sum  was  not  needed. '  " 

One  may  differ  in  opinion  as  to  the  merits  of  the  loan  as  a  finan- 
cial operation  in  London  ;  but  the  point  on  which  there  could  be  no 
difference  was,  that  the  loan  was  not  necessary.  It  would  seem  there- 
fore that  this  motion  ought  to  have  been  adopted  unanimously.  On 
the  contrary,  it  was  rejected  by  32  votes  against  15. 


lWHI|iJI>«I.III.HWMWA.'|!t»aJ  ■,  Ji. 


^"fJ  Archam- 
s'y  resigned), 

'"S  of  the  day 
an  order  in 
'Wic  moneys 
the  express 
and   21   of 
^'d   stcatute, 
-led   to  the 
paid  in  the 

I  per  cent. 
5  per  cent, 
and  that 
'f  sinking 
ame,  this 
iquidated 


J  by  the 
anciaJJy 
igland." 
'ngham 
-ircum- 
to  pro- 
it  was 
I  good 

-nt  as 

lit  be 

hout 

was 

)r  so 

lan- 
no 
!re- 
On 


»    '  ■  ■ . ' 


* . 


■:7' 


f, " . 


ii- 


